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John Ensign Affair: GOP Senator admits relationship with ex-campaign staffer

Re: Ensign acknowledges extramarital affair

aps said:
Being separated from one's spouse is not a termination of the marriage.
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Legally it isn't...but I don't see why that should matter, since adultery isn't illegal in the first place. And I don't even see why it's immoral, since he and his wife were separated. Surely no one would suggest that his estranged wife was somehow victimized here. I don't even like how the press refers to this as an "affair." It was a relationship.
 
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Re: Ensign acknowledges extramarital affair

aps said:
Being separated from one's spouse is not a termination of the marriage.
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No, but it is a termination of the possibility of adultery being a grounds for any divorce.

Perverse irony when the lunatic left is indulging in the same holier-than-thou spew they fatuously ascribe to those with whom they disagree.
 
Re: Ensign acknowledges extramarital affair

Kandahar said:
Legally it isn't...but I don't see why that should matter, since adultery isn't illegal in the first place. And I don't even see why it's immoral, since he and his wife were separated. Surely no one would suggest that his estranged wife was somehow victimized here. I don't even like how the press refers to this as an "affair." It was a relationship.
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If you're married, how do you "preserve the sanctity of marriage" by sleeping with somebody else? What do they say at weddings? "Promise to be with whoever... blah blah blah... till death do us part"?

The guy not only disregarded his marriage, he disregarded the marriage of another couple. That's two different marriages that one person **** all over.

I personally don't care about his personal decisions, but if he's going to represent a party that wishes to "preserve the sanctity of marriage" then he needs to hold up his end of the bargain. Two gay guys getting married and minding their own business is somehow much more of a problem than a married guy who sleeps with another woman who is also married?
 
Re: Ensign acknowledges extramarital affair

Kandahar said:
Legally it isn't...but I don't see why that should matter, since adultery isn't illegal in the first place. And I don't even see why it's immoral, since he and his wife were separated. Surely no one would suggest that his estranged wife was somehow victimized here. I don't even like how the press refers to this as an "affair." It was a relationship.
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Well, Kandahar, I have no respect for someone who has an affair with a married person. So even if I thought, "Well, he and his wife were separated," I would be reminded that the woman with whom he screwed around with was married herself. He is an asshole.
 
Re: Ensign acknowledges extramarital affair

aps said:
Well, Kandahar, I have no respect for someone who has an affair with a married person. So even if I thought, "Well, he and his wife were separated," I would be reminded that the woman with whom he screwed around with was married herself. He is an asshole.
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Jesus christ, get over yourself.

I have more respect for an adulterer than I do a drunk, or, in Obama's case, a coke head or a pot head, admittedly so in his case.
 
Re: Ensign acknowledges extramarital affair

Caine said:
Jesus christ, get over yourself.

I have more respect for an adulterer than I do a drunk, or, in Obama's case, a coke head or a pot head, admittedly so in his case.
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Can you help me get over myself? I'd really appreciate it. :2wave:
 
So it looks like Ensign was having an affair with this woman BEFORE he was separated from his wife--from December 2007 through March 2008.

According to an official timeline Ensign's staff provided Tuesday, his affair began in December 2007 and continued until last August. John and Darlene Ensign were separated from April to July last year, according to his office.

Ensign's Former Treasurer Acknowledges Affair With Senator
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aps said:
So it looks like Ensign was having an affair with this woman BEFORE he was separated from his wife--from December 2007 through March 2008.
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Still don't see what the big deal is.

He committed adultery, which is not a crime.

Possession of Cocaine is a felony :mrgreen:
 
Caine said:
Still don't see what the big deal is.

He committed adultery, which is not a crime.

Possession of Cocaine is a felony :mrgreen:
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Caine, I agree with you. My disgust towards the situation is about Ensign lecturing others about morality, when his own morality is bogus. Come on. This is a guy who said Clinton and Craig should resign because of their immoral behavior. And look at him. That's why I am pissed off. If this was someone who wasn't out there lecturing others publicly on their own morality, I wouldn't care about this situation.
 
Sounds to me like he decided not to pay extortion to the staffer he had sex with.
 
joko104 said:
Sounds to me like he decided not to pay extortion to the staffer he had sex with.
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Based on what I have read, I think it was the staffer whose wife had the affair with Ensign that was attempting to extort Ensign. What a jackass the husband of this woman is. He was paid handsomely when he was working for Ensign.

The senator hired Doug Hampton as his administrative assistant, one of the two most senior positions in the office, beginning Nov. 8, 2006, according to congressional records. From April 2007 through March 2008, Hampton was paid $162,000, almost the maximum allowed for aides, according to LegiStorm, the congressional watchdog that monitors staff salaries.

Ensign's Former Treasurer Acknowledges Affair With Senator
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aps said:
Caine, I agree with you. My disgust towards the situation is about Ensign lecturing others about morality, when his own morality is bogus. Come on. This is a guy who said Clinton and Craig should resign because of their immoral behavior. And look at him. That's why I am pissed off. If this was someone who wasn't out there lecturing others publicly on their own morality, I wouldn't care about this situation.
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Forgive me if I put foot in mouth, but did he have his affair in the 90s?

If so, at the time he was of proper moral character to criticize Clinton.


I view him no different than the religious nuts who preach hate for gays and all this crap and then go out and be gay themselves.
 
Caine said:
Forgive me if I put foot in mouth, but did he have his affair in the 90s?

If so, at the time he was of proper moral character to criticize Clinton.


I view him no different than the religious nuts who preach hate for gays and all this crap and then go out and be gay themselves.
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You have a point. Nevertheless, I'm thrilled that this has come out and essentially killed his chances at a presidential run. We reap what we sow.
 
aps said:
You have a point. Nevertheless, I'm thrilled that this has come out and essentially killed his chances at a presidential run. We reap what we sow.
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If an admitted Felon can do it, this guy can.
:2wave:
 
aps said:
Caine, I agree with you. My disgust towards the situation is about Ensign lecturing others about morality, when his own morality is bogus. Come on. This is a guy who said Clinton and Craig should resign because of their immoral behavior. And look at him. That's why I am pissed off. If this was someone who wasn't out there lecturing others publicly on their own morality, I wouldn't care about this situation.
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Aps, I think the world of you, I really do, but in this case I think you are wrong. If we said that no one who was a hypocrite could be in public office, we would have no one in office. We have all been guilty of it at times. The guy is an asshole, I agree, but his being an asshole is no business of mine. All I should care about in public officials is how they do their job.
 
Redress said:
Aps, I think the world of you, I really do, but in this case I think you are wrong. If we said that no one who was a hypocrite could be in public office, we would have no one in office. We have all been guilty of it at times. The guy is an asshole, I agree, but his being an asshole is no business of mine. All I should care about in public officials is how they do their job.
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THank you for teh compliment. I like you too!

Redress, I'm not saying he should step down or be removed from his position or that he is a bad senator. I think most people are hypocrites in some way or another (including myself). Thus, he is human. My feelings on this relates solely to him publicly preaching to others about morals and subsequently showing he isn't any better than those he chastized.

If he had privately told his wife and others that Clinton and Craig were scumbags, no big deal. I wouldn't think anything about this situation. However, he used his public position to criticize them for being human beings and recommended that they both resign. But now he's been shown to be a human being and he's decided that such isn't worthy of resigning. I agree with him, but when he wasn't the guilty party, he thought those who had been unfaithful were not worthy of serving the public.

Does what I say make sense?
 
aps said:
THank you for teh compliment. I like you too!

Redress, I'm not saying he should step down or be removed from his position or that he is a bad senator. I think most people are hypocrites in some way or another (including myself). Thus, he is human. My feelings on this relates solely to him publicly preaching to others about morals and subsequently showing he isn't any better than those he chastized.

If he had privately told his wife and others that Clinton and Craig were scumbags, no big deal. I wouldn't think anything about this situation. However, he used his public position to criticize them for being human beings and recommended that they both resign. But now he's been shown to be a human being and he's decided that such isn't worthy of resigning. I agree with him, but when he wasn't the guilty party, he thought those who had been unfaithful were not worthy of serving the public.

Does what I say make sense?
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Yes, but think of it this way, using myself as an example. I smoke(and no, I am not going to quit). Despite that, I have and do preach to others that they should not smoke. Does that make me a bad person, despite the hypocrisy? My nephew got tired of me lecturing him on the subject...
 
Redress said:
Yes, but think of it this way, using myself as an example. I smoke(and no, I am not going to quit). Despite that, I have and do preach to others that they should not smoke. Does that make me a bad person, despite the hypocrisy? My nephew got tired of me lecturing him on the subject...
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I'm not saying he's a bad person at all. I don't think hypocrites are bad people; otherwise, I would have no respect for the entire population. ;) My thing with Ensign is him getting his just desserts.
 
aps said:
I'm not saying he's a bad person at all. I don't think hypocrites are bad people; otherwise, I would have no respect for the entire population. ;) My thing with Ensign is him getting his just desserts.
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Ok, I see. Let me just shift gears here a second.

I still have a problem with this. The public should never have known about this. It's not our business. It is the business of those involved. The only reason we even know about this is politicians live under such intense media scrutiny that it was going to end up being reported anyway. That same media scrutiny ensures that any one in a high public position is going to put power before family welfare. Who else would put themselves and their families through the scrutiny?
 
Redress said:
Ok, I see. Let me just shift gears here a second.

I still have a problem with this. The public should never have known about this. It's not our business. It is the business of those involved. The only reason we even know about this is politicians live under such intense media scrutiny that it was going to end up being reported anyway. That same media scrutiny ensures that any one in a high public position is going to put power before family welfare. Who else would put themselves and their families through the scrutiny?
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The media is aware that people LOVE juicy gossip. Now, here, apparently, and I haven't attempted to verify this information, the husband of the women with whom he had an affair was attempting to get money from Ensign for keeping it a secret. Ensign was put between a rock and a hard place.
 
aps said:
The media is aware that people LOVE juicy gossip. Now, here, apparently, and I haven't attempted to verify this information, the husband of the women with whom he had an affair was attempting to get money from Ensign for keeping it a secret. Ensign was put between a rock and a hard place.
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Why did you have to go and bring the blackmail aspect into this? I have been trying hard to avoid that part, since it ruins my crusade against the lack of privacy we give politicians in this particular case...
 
Redress said:
Why did you have to go and bring the blackmail aspect into this? I have been trying hard to avoid that part, since it ruins my crusade against the lack of privacy we give politicians in this particular case...
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I fully support him in going public instead of giving in to blackmail.
 
Redress said:
Why did you have to go and bring the blackmail aspect into this? I have been trying hard to avoid that part, since it ruins my crusade against the lack of privacy we give politicians in this particular case...
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???

Because it was a fact I read about in this situation. Are you joking or are you genuinely criticizing my bringing up a fact that I had no idea would ruin your crusade?

???:confused:
 
aps said:
???

Because it was a fact I read about in this situation. Are you joking or are you genuinely criticizing my bringing up a fact that I had no idea would ruin your crusade?

???:confused:
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Joking.

The whole privacy of public officials issue is an important one to me, and I started preaching it here before I understood the blackmail aspect. I was hoping to get away with it, but you, being a smart person(liberals are smart by definition) caught me at it.

None of this changes my feelings on the privacy issue, but in this case, the blackmail kinda negates it to an extent.
 
since were on "full disclosure"....I will be forthcoming....

I've had 5 wives.......two of which were my own:mrgreen:
 
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